Smithford Street (inc. Ram Bridge)

Yes, you're one of the good ones Neil, I appreciate that. If only more people were as diligent !

Annewiggy's post 228, plans for the market area. There is no mention of Ram or river. 1938 everyone had war on their lips, ration books were being printed, evacuation plans thought of, air raid shelters built, every government body was aware of bombing, and fire, but Coventry council it seems were not aware of the ram or river, or a hydrant or suction station would come in handy if the city had fires and so Coventry suffered from lack of water for app. 8 hours and the city burnt??? Anyone please tell me I'm wrong.

Kaga, the river was built over on Smithford Street but they probably did use all the watercourses where they could. It wasn't a big river though and if there were lots of hoses drawing water, it would have soon run dry. Before the bombing they probably never thought that so much of the domestic part of the city would be targeted to burn. The Germans dropped incendiary bombs specifically to devastate the people as much as the war machine. Given what those homes were built of, I doubt any amount of water would have made much difference.

Helen F. Sorry, I have to disagree with you on this one. What I read, there were four men on the Cathedral roof, they were coping well with the incendiary bombs for two hours until the water ran out, then they had to stand and watch the fire take a real hold. The Daimler had a fire service of about thirty or forty men, they were asked if they could spare some for Owen's, so they sent some but they found they had no water, they made sure the building was clear of people then let it burn - no choice. Our top people knew everything about bombing or should have done, the Germans had been bombing since 1936, started in Spain. High explosives devastate more than incendiary, the incendiary was for burning and light up the target. Yes I know it was built over but if they were making plans for the area they could have built a well of sorts in the river bed or whatever the fire service advised. I believe it would have made a very big difference. Coventry had a very big fire service counting the works brigades, and a river right under the city. Maybe I'm wrong but I believe too many people thought they would not reach the Midlands.

'Should have done' might be the key phrase but what happened in Coventry was new, even for the Germans. As you'll probably know they invented a word for it. "Koventrieren" or to Coventrate. A lot of the buildings didn't blow apart, they burnt down. If you look at what survived, many of them are new, brick buildings or older buildings bookended by brick properties. The cathedral burned, it wasn't blown up. In all probability the cathedral was targeted, although in the dark, with its flat roof, it possibly looked like a factory. Of all the buildings, the cathedral might have been saved by better planning but only by keeping the fires from taking hold each time an incendiary fell. The river was a fair distance, all the way to Pool Meadow and some height too. There were a lot of burning buildings closer to the river and closer to the river's source. All the way from Spon End was alight. There were factories with their own fire service but then a lot of those buildings were burning too. The resources, including hoses were overwhelmed. Water mains could have been broken in several parts of the city. I know that Much Park Street had a massive hole in the middle of the road. No matter how good the supply, if there are no pipes... But ultimately a lot of the buildings were impossible to save once they caught light. See this link for an idea how hard it is to save a burning church with modern equipment, even when the rest of the city isn't on fire around you. They saved the building by sacrificing the roof. York Minster fire. A lot of the inner city was built of wood. Once the city was ablaze it would have been like a forest fire creating fire tornadoes and strong winds. The miracle was that any of it was saved.

Helen, I'm sorry but I have to disagree again. I believe most of the Luftwaffe were experienced, new exactly what they were doing, and Coventry was a sitting duck. To me the Armstrong Siddeley, Daimler, etc had their own brigade and static water tanks, so were not burned out. I believe the Cathedral staff coped with the first wave of incendiaries but had no water or sand for the second wave. The Hippodrome, pub opposite, MHW, and the pub and shoe shop on the corner of the Burges did not burn down either - was that because MHW had their own brigade and took water from the river behind the Rex Cinema? I believe so. I was told that half the MHW brigade had no water in West Orchard so they joined the team in Hales Street. Even though they had a second wave of incendiaries all the way down Corporations Street and Hales Street and Trinity Street, MHW had the roof blown 'off ' but I believe a score of tractors were saved. It was hinted to me that there were no fires in that area, and so they received a second wave of incendiaries. Water mains were broken in many places and that was expected except to the council who to my mind never had static water tanks or other sources of supply.

No problem Prof - again these are Rob's images which you can find in the 'Library Pictures' section - the blue button on the left side of the screen. Here's another further up Smithford Street looking the other way towards The City Arms. Post copied from topic Coventry's Co-operative Societies on 27th Jun 2018 10:20 am

Thanks Neil. Wonder what (shop?) is this side of Co-op? Public? Name above might be Cresswells or similar. Or perhaps it begins with a G?

Hi, it is a 'G', you can see it clearly when magnified. Also here's a list for 1935 Smithford St.

Thanks Heathite. Interesting as when I was at Folly Lane School (1946-1949) some children had boots or shoes from this company or the Council for parents who could not afford to buy them.

Helen. No, I don't believe the Cathedral was targetted. Incendiaries were dropped willy-nilly near a target, and as I posted the fire was under control until the water ran out - the water was at the bottom of Hertford Street and could have saved Spon End, if there had been access to it. We did not know what the Germans called it until long after the raid and we were already calling it Coventrated. It is not hard to fight a fire if you have trained men and machines, and water or something solid, stop the air from it and you have no problem. I was a fireman and was in many burning buildings, touching a brass plate on a wall taught me much more than any training could. Laying on the floor of a bedroom, feeling to see if there were kids in cots or so, with the kitchen ablaze underneath fed by ruptured gas pipes was no joke either. And the equipment in those days was not like today by a long way. All in Coventry. The Solihull brigade stood by and could do nothing. They were not overwhelmed at any time, no brigade was, to my knowledge. Water could have saved a lot of Coventry had someone had more forethought. But I have read many books and articles about the Blitz that had little knowledge of what really happened. Sorry, I do not want to offend anyone.

I don't think any of us could be offended by the truth Kaga - we're just grateful to have you on-board to tell it to us like it was.

No worries Kaga You've got information nobody has access to. It's all good stuff.

Two nice sketches, one of the Great Meeting House on Smithford Street and the other of the school and chapel on Vicar Lane. These are ephemera - on Abebooks so grab a copy of the image while it lasts.